1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a rail joint bar and a rail joint assembly for electrically-isolating sections of rail in a rail system. Particularly, the present invention relates to rail joint bars secured by fasteners to abutting rails of a rail system for creating a rail joint having an electrically-insulating spacer between the rail joint bars and rails, and gaskets between ends of the adjacent railroad rails, all for electrically-isolating adjacent rail sections of a rail system.
2. Description of Related Art
A rail system, which permits more than one train to travel on one stretch of track or rail, is generally divided into sections or blocks. The purpose of dividing rails of a rail system into sections is to detect the presence of a train on a section of rail at any given time. Rail sections of a rail system are electrically isolated from each other to measure a high electrical resistance over the rail section in the absence of a train on any rail section of the system. Upon entry onto a rail section, a train will short circuit adjacent railroad rails in a rail section and the electrical resistance will drop to indicate the presence of the train in the rail section.
Railroad tracks are created generally by welding railroad rails to each other or attaching railroad rails to each other with a steel joint. High-performance, non-metallic joints are typically used for electrically-isolating adjacent rail sections of a rail system in order to create an electrically-isolated section. However, the non-metallic joints are very expensive due to the special high-performance material needed to endure the high tensile and flexural forces exerted on a rail joint as the wheels of a locomotive or rail car pass over the joint. An alternative to a non-metallic joint is a steel rail joint having electrically-insulating material, such as epoxy affixed to the rail joint surface for isolating rail sections. However, these epoxies must be able to endure the high tensile and flexural forces exerted on the railroad rails in order to prevent the electrically-insulating material from peeling off the rail joint. It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a rail joint bar that uses two different types of epoxies whereby the above drawbacks are eliminated.
During creation of a rail system, an electrically-insulated gasket is typically inserted between the ends of adjacent railroad rails when the rails are joined using a rail joint to provide for further electrical isolation of a rail section. The gaskets are usually made of a material that cannot be compressed, such as fiberglass or a polymeric-based material. The gasket is used to environmentally seal the rail ends. Often times, water penetrates between the gasket and the railroad rail ends, thereby compromising the integrity of the material, which unzips, allowing contact between the electrically-isolated railroad rail sections. It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a compressible gasket that overcomes the above problems.